Guest speaker for the University Forum Lecture Series, which provides opportunities for university students, faculty, and staff and for people in the surrounding region to hear some of the most stimulating speakers in the country.
In this series on Multiscalar Networks, I joined June Holley, after having worked as a disaster response advocate and network weaver in the wake of the September 2024 Hurricane Helene that devastated Western North Carolina.
As an informant in this article, I called for trauma-informed disaster response and recovery, providing real examples from my lived experience as a helper during response and recovery from Hurricanes Florence, Michael, Dorian, and Helene.
A story of quiet leadership and complex systems. In a coastal North Carolina community shaped by deep pride and layered trauma, I helped seed conditions for connection, healing, and change - by holding a container, honoring resistance, and working gently at the edges of what could be spoken.